Mexican President Sheinbaum says she will uphold Cuban doctor agreement as other countries dip out

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday said Mexico will continue to have Cuban doctors work in the country at a time when other nations across the Americas have ditched their agreements with Cuba's government in the face of mounting U.S. pressure.

“It's a bilateral agreement that helps Mexico a lot,” said Sheinbaum in her morning press briefing when asked if she would uphold the agreement or give in to pressures by the Trump administration.

The leader's support of the Cuban medical program comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has suffocated Cuba by effectively cutting the island off from oil imports and has sought to isolate the Caribbean nation in an effort to push for regime change. The U.S. has pushed to end such missions, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it a “form of human trafficking.”

Asked for a response on Wednesday, the White House pointed to a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June when the administration announced restrictions for various Central American officials with ties to Cuba’s “forced labor scheme.” Rubio at the time said the restrictions “promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices.”

A number of Latin American and Caribbean nations like Honduras and Jamaica have abruptly shut down the missions, and sent Cuban doctors home.

Cuba’s practice of deploying doctors — often highly skilled in providing care with scarce resources — is often a means of diplomacy, but has long been criticized by the U.S. government. Despite that, Cuban doctors have played an important role in rural areas of Latin America lacking basic medical infrastructure like the Amazon and parts of Central America.

Sheinbaum on Wednesday defended the program and said that “we can’t forget” all the help Cuban doctors have offered during the COVID-19 pandemic and in rural areas across the country. It's unclear exactly how many Cuban doctors currently work in Mexico.

"It’s hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to go out to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and the Cubans are willing to work there," she said.

Sheinbaum's defense of the program appears to go against Trump administration efforts at the same time that the Mexican leader has had to walk a fine line with Washington in an effort to offset threats by Trump to take military action against Mexican cartels.

Mexico has been a fierce defender of Cuba dating back to the country's revolution. For years, it has sent oil shipments to Cuba to help stave off a deeper energy crisis on the island. But Sheinbaum's government halted those shipments when Trump threatened to slap tariffs on any nation that sends oil to Cuba. Instead, Mexico's government has sent aid shipments and sought to help in other ways.

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Associated Press journalist Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington D.C.